Band Of Chummers

Scene 1: Vory Warehouse. The Collective are instructed to wait outside a warehouse for their next job. Unbeknownst to them, the warehouse is owned and operated by Nikolai Kirilov, one of the leaders of the Vory.

Nikolai and his men don’t seem to recognize the Collective as the group that wiped out Mikael Petrov and Ivan Romanov. Still, they are wary of outsiders and don’t seem too happy about working with American shadowrunners.

Short on manpower, Nikolai asks the Collective to pay the Three Kings a visit and either recruit them or destroy them. Nikolai agrees to pay each runner 1,000¥ up front and 4,000¥ when the job is complete.

The Collective accept the job and Nikolai gives them a map of the Three Kings’ location.

Outside the warehouse, before the team gets in their vehicles, they are approached by Maria Kirilova. She is the daughter of Nikolai Kirilov. She asks for their help and gives Zer0 the address of where to find her. She is called back into the warehouse.

Scene 2: Casquilho Imports. The Collective make plans to double-cross the Vory and go talk to Don Casquilho. They inform the Don of the Vory’s plans and agree to help turn the Three Kings over to Casquilho control. Both parties agree to have Miguel Sanchez accompany the team into the Aurora Warrens.

Scene 3: Tony’s Apartment. Mellora and Lion-O pay Tony and Maria a visit. It is clear that they are on Three Kings’ turf. The Three Kings gang are currently in turmoil after their leader, Jonny, was shot in the back 15 times. The killer is still not known.

Tony and Maria explain that they need protection until morning, when they can take the train to New York state. They say they need protection from the Vory because Maria is running away from her father to be with Tony. Maria says that she just slipped her smotrityel, or watcher. She doesn’t believe they can track her.

Tony says he is one of the more respected members of the Three Kings and that he needs to clear up some gang business before he can leave. Tony and Maria say they wish for nothing more than a peaceful life so they can raise a family together.

Amy Steur and her two guards show up at Tony’s apartment building. Lion-O warns Mellora and Mellora bugs out. It doesn’t seem like Amy is threatening violence, so Mellora and Lion-O leave to meet up with the rest of the team.

Scene 4: Tony’s Apartment. After the team agrees on a plan, they return to Tony’s Apartment only to see Amy and her boys leaving. Zer0 recognizes them and realizes they are high ranking members of the Fronts.

Inside Tony explains that the Three Kings were once part of the Fronts and that Amy is trying to recruit them. The team tries to split up Maria and Tony so they can convince Tony that it is in the Three King’s best interest to join the Casquilhos.

Before they can finish, Mike and Andrew, two Three Kings gangers show up at the door carrying a third member, Kev, who has been badly wounded by a gunshot. The gunshot came from Mike who swears that Kev is an undercover Knight Errant cop. Andrew believes Kev was just being harassed by the cops and that he’s a loyal Three Kings member. They bring Kev’s body to Tony so he can figure out what to do.

Olo casts a heal spell on Kev to save him from dying. Tony sees the situation as a sign of things getting out of control with his gang. He immediately gets up to talk to his brothers before things get any worse.

The team makes a last ditch effort to split up Maria and Tony and are successful. Maria agrees to go with Mellora while Tony goes to clear things up with the rest of the Three Kings.

Scene 5: Streets of Aurora Warrens: Three Kings turf. Tony and the team come upon a large gathering in the street. Two gangers roll back and forth in a brawl. Gang markings indicate that everyone present is a member of the Three Kings.

After things settle down, Tony tries to make his peace with his brothers. He says that he’s going to leave them in goods hands with the Casquilho Family. With some help from Olo, he manages to convince the majority of the Three Kings to go along with the plan. A few members don’t like the idea and peacefully leave.

Scene 6: UCAS Train station. The team allows Maria and Tony to gather all their possessions before leaving for the train statin. With the help of Peaches, the Collective escort Tony and Maria to the train station. There, all is quiet until Nikolai and his two men show up.

Nikolai approaches Maria even though she has a glamour spell cast on her. Maria does not play games and tries to stand up to her father.

Olo tries to summon a spirit and the Vory reach for their guns. Felix and Mellora pull their weapons also and start firing. By the time Olo is done summoning an Earth Spirit, the Vory are incapacited and surrender.

Zer0 hacks into train system to allow Tony and Maria on board. Zer0 then instructs the train to leave for New York as scheduled. Olo orders his spirit to guard the couple on the train. Olo then tries his best to heal the two fallen Vory soldiers.

The team takes Nikolai prisoner and leaves the other two for Lone Star to pick up.

Scene 7: Vory Warehouse. After dropping off Nikolai with the Casquilho family, the Collective examine the data on his commlink. They learn that the warehouse holds large amount of Vory weapons and armor as well as crates of aluminum bone lacing kits. The weapons and armor appear to be Russian military though a couple generations old.

Olo scouts the warhouse only to find three workers. Zer0 hacks into the warehouse node and shuts off the camera and lights. Some quick sneaking and quick striking takes out the three workers in the warehouse. The crates and boxes are ransacked and the gear is loaded into Mellora’s van.

Mellora relays the information for the warehouse and the tied up Vory to her Lone Star contact before the team leaves.

The aluminum bone lacing kits are handed over to Tabby Morgan to fence.

At the meet, Lucho Casquilho wants the team to retrieve Terrance Wyatt who has gone missing since he failed to deliver a shipment to the Casquilhos on time. Don Casquilho asks only for Terry and does not mention retrieval of the shipment.

Don Casquilho agrees to pay the team 1,000¥ up front with 6,000¥ more upon completion per runner. The Don also agrees to exchange hard to get items in lieu of payment.

The team receives a hardcopy file that includes the home address and a picture of Terry Wyatt and his wife Carole. They also receive the contact information for a Jana McKee who was a past associate of Terry’s.

Some quick legwork reveals that the shipment was picked up by the Aurora Angels in the Aurora Warrens.

Scene 2: The Wyatt Residence. The team decides to go to Terry’s home first. Olo does some quick scouting to see that Carole Wyatt is entertaining a Russian man named Mikael Petrov. Quick legwork reveals that Mikael is working for the Vory.

Zer0 hacks into Petrov’s European sedan and learns about his favorite radio stations and destinations in Denver. Petrov’s favorite radio station seems to be local news. His favorite destinations are high-end restaurants in the Hub, various unnamed locations in the Aurora Warrens, and Doc Tico’s medical clinic.

Zer0 hacks into the home computer only to learn that Terry is some kind of aircraft pilot and that he was due home from Los Angeles an hour ago.

After an hour of waiting, nothing seems to change. So Olo casts a mask spell on Felix making him look and sound like Terry Wyatt. Felix approaches the door, but has attracted the attention of two unexpected Vory soldiers.

Felix spins around and takes a quick shot at one of the men, but misses. He then runs and jumps into the kitchen window into the Wyatt Residence.

Zer0 hacks into one of the Vory cars and uses it as a distraction. Zer0 bricks Mikael Petrov’s car and sends the other Vory car away.

Mellora runs up behind one of the men and attacks him with her baton.

Olo, in astral form, teleports around the scene trying to distract the two Vory soldiers. He takes a shotgun blast to the face, but he is able to avoid any damage.

Lion-O attempts to run over one of the Vory soldiers with his Hyundai but narrowly misses. Lion-O then pulls out his gun and takes a shot at the Vory soldier.

Both Vory soldiers, Viktor and Bogdan are incapacitated with few injuries to the team.

Inside, Felix gets into a gunfight with Mikael. Felix gets shot, but puts down Mikael with his Remington Roomsweeper. He finished Mikael with a bullet to the head. Carole is freaking out and tends to “Terry’s” wounds.

Cleaning up, the team heals up Viktor and Bodgan’s wounds to stabilize them. They also convince Carole to join them in the van. They drive off before Lone Star arrives.

Olo drops the mask spell, causing Carole to realize that Felix is impersonating Terry. Mellora has to restrain her in the back of the van.

Scene 3: Somewhere in an abandoned part of the Aurora Warrens. The team gets a moment of respite and has a chance to interrogate their captives after hiding their identities with ski masks. Felix chooses to wear his lucha mask. Felix is partially healed by Olo and Mellora. Carole doesn’t believe that Terry works for the mafia and that he is a traveling salesman. She is quite clueless as to what’s going on.

The two Vory soldiers are disdainful, but after a charisma spell from Olo, Mellora able to intimidate them into cooperating. The say they were ordered to capture Terry Wyatt alive but to kill him if he was uncooperative. They also say that the Vory has been muscling in on smugglers and coyotes of Denver , trying to convert them over to their side. They don’t know much more than that.

Zer0 hacks into Mikhael’s commlink that was recovered off his dead body. On the commlink are addresses for Mikhael’s apartment in the CAS district, Doc Tico’s Medicial clinic, the Jade Crane brothel in the Aurora Warrens, and a DIY storage building in the Aurora Warrens.

Also on the commlink are communications regarding Vory activities in Denver:

A discussion on how to handle the Aurora Angels. Mikhael pushes for a peaceful resolution. Ivan pushes for a brutal resolution. Vladimir Kirilov says to wait for his decision before acting.

A warm welcome for Taljha who is expected to be a huge boon to Vory operations in Denver.

Scene 4: Stapleton Airport. Zer0 and Lion-O head to the airport used by Terry Wyatt. Zer0 and Lion-O decide to drop Carole off at the airport instead of her Lone Star infested home. Lion-O buys her a plane ticket to keep her safe.

After Zer0 hacks into the airport database, they learn that Terry had been renting a plane to carry shipments for Casquilho Imports from California. The cargo was listed as “children’s toys.” Though he was expected to arrive with a shipment less than a day ago, the cargo plane was empty and he did not need the cargo handler’s services. Surveillance footage showed nothing more that was unusual.

Scene 5: Five by Five bar. The team calls up Jana McKee. The team hide their intentions but it seems Jana doesn’t know anything about Terry’s whereabouts. With the help of Peaches, the team makes their way to the Five by Five located somewhere underground, where they can try to find Terry. Peaches goes over the rules of the Five by Five before they arrive.

Olo and Mellora choose to stay at the doorway. The rest of the team drops their weapons at the door and mingle with the patrons of the Five by Five. The team meets Rhinegold, Matty Zorn, and Jana McKee. Zer0, Lion-O and Felix pick up some interesting tidbits and it is revealed that Stalker was killed by the Azzies.

As Zer0 begins asking about the whereabouts of Terry Wyatt, through sheer providence, Terry shows up right outside the Five by Five. However, he is being escorted by three Vory soldiers led by Ivan Romanov. Olo and Mellora see them coming and alert their teammates inside. The Vory make their unfriendly intentions clear and Olo initiates combat by casting a Mass Confusion spell on the Vory.

In the fierce gunfight in the cramped hallway outside the Five by Five, the team is victorious, dropping all the Vory men without harm to Terry or anyone in the bar. The only damage done was to Felix who took a shotgun wound.

Before departing, the team leaves a calling card with Matty Zorn. Matty asks about their identity and the team officially identifies themselves as the Collective. Rhinegold helps the team find their way out of the sewers.

Scene 6: Casquilho Imports. The team asks Terry why he was at the Five by Five with the Vory, and Terry explained that the Vory used him to find the Five by Five. There, the Vory were going to rough up Matty and his patrons if they did not fully cooperate with the Vory.

Terry pleads for his life, offering the Collective money, but the team dutifully delivers Terry Wyatt to the Casquilhos without delay. During the debriefing, the team recounts the events and hands over all the data they retrieved from the Vory commlinks. Olo makes a plea on Terry’s behalf, but Terry’s fate is left unknown. Miguel Sanchez handles the final payout to the Collective.

Just for fun

Zer0 – A highly qualified and underutilized individual. Intelligent and extremely useful. Professional, precautious, and thus far trustworthy. It’s good to know wise fellows. Personal relations may be formed someday.

Lion-o – An individual with somewhat expensive tastes. Sometimes timid. Sometimes reckless. Perhaps this person is seeking guidence. Heart is in the right place for my tastes. A good man. Let’s really hope the good will not die young. Personal relations should remain limited for now. This one may get me killed.

Mellora – A history perhaps as clouded as checkered as my own. A collector of fine weapons and frightening vehicle parts makes you suspect danger. And you would be right. Although I do not sense bloodlust and hatred (without proper cause) but courage and a sense of duty. Personal relations may be formed someday (perhaps provided neither of us learns a thing about the other’s past).

Felix – Track record not perfect… far from perfect… okay downright unstable. Has been shown to have use in steath once or twice. This one will absolutely get me done in if distance is not kept. In the end, it’s more of a gamble to see which one of his enemies corners him first. Though I will not take another life I shall try to make it known that it does not mean I must save him, depending on the circumstance… but that doesn’t mean he can’t imporve his odds if attitude is improved. Who knows? Personal relations should remain extremely limited.

Scene 1: PCC:CAS Border Checkpoint. Mellora, Lion-O, and Felix carpooled together in Lion-O’s Hyundai Shin-Hyung car. At the border crossing, they were unable to talk their way past the Knight Errant guards and were pulled aside for further inspection.

Knight Errant officers, without explanation, detained Mellora and Lion-O and took them to the Knight Errant station. They allowed Felix to go free. Mellora and Lion-O complied peacefully.

Scene 2: The Aspen Chalet. Missing two members, Olo, Zer0, and Felix pressed on and attended the meeting with Mr. Johnson to receive the mission offer.

During an expensive brunch, A well-dressed Mr. Johnson offered a job of corporate disruption of Rocky Mountain Dynamics. He asked the team to disrupt RMD through harassment, vandalism, and sabotage throughout the upcoming week.

Despite being short two members, Olo convinced Mr. Johnson that they could handle the operation. The team agreed to accept ¥2,000 up front and ¥4,000 upon completion for each member of the team.

Scene 3: Knight Errant Station in CAS. While Lion-O was being interrogated by Police Chief Alice Bujold, Olo pretended to be Lawyer Benny Factor and convinced the reception officer to be allowed to see Mellora (with a little help from Zer0).

While “Benny Factor” was talking to Mellora, Zer0 activated the sprinkler system to distract the guards and “Benny Factor” used that opportunity to knockout Mellora. Knight Errant guards came to Benny’s rescue and helped subdue the unconscious but “threatening” Mellora.

In a second encounter, this time with the attendance of a doctor, Benny mind controled the doctor to convince the guards that Mellora should be transferred to a hospital.

Scene 4: DocWagon Hospital. Olo and Zer0 tracked Mellora’s transfer to a nearby hospital. This time, Olo impersonated a Dr. Akula and Zer0 hacked into the hospital database and edited personnel files to have Dr. Akula be Mellora’s doctor.

While Dr. Akula examined Mellora, Zer0 controlled the medical devices to indicate that Mellora had passed away. Police Chief Alice Bujold made an appearance and ordered the guards to transfer Mellora to the Knight Errant morgue instead of the hospital morgue.

Dr. Akula claimed that Mellora had contracted a virulent mutation of the HM-HVV virus and must be disposed of in the hospital morgue. Dr. Akula managed to convince everyone especially the nurse to stay away from the infected body.

Zer0 intercepted a call to the Center for Disease Control and bought Dr. Akula enough time to “dispose” of Mellora’s body. Olo placed Mellora on a wheelchair and casted a disguise spell on her. He rolled her out of the hospital and they both got away.

Felix spent his time at a sports bar, watching the the Minnesota Vikings defeat the Pittsburg Steelers to win Superbowl CV in a closely contested game for the ages.

Scene 5: RMD Plant. After taking a wait-and-see approach to rescuing Lion-O, the team begins its operation to disrupt the RMD Facility in Bow Mar in the PCC Sector. Zer0 regularly finds lone, unoccupied Knight Errant squad cars to hack into to keep tabs on Lion-O’s whereabouts.

During off-shift hours, Olo uses his magical projection to scout out the RMD plant. He finds that there are no magical defenses and is able to get a picture of the complete layout of the plant. Still, there are at least a dozen guards as well as other maintenance workers.

The team of Olo, Mellora, and Zer0 continue their surveillance throughout the day. They see a cargo truck leave the plant and decide to hijack it.

On northbound Route 121, Mellora and Zer0 follow the RMD truck in Mellora’s van. Zer0 first bricks the driver’s commlink and then hacks into the truck, guiding it to a stop. While Zer0 distracts the truck driver, Mellora sneaks into the cabin and steals the RMD truck.

The team contacts fixer Tabitha Morgan, and asks for her help in fencing the goods inside the RMD truck. Tabby instructs them to hide out in the sewers until she can arrange for a pickup. After a non-eventful 7 hour wait guarding the truck, Tabby arrives with two movers and take the goods. Olo negotiates a 30% take when the goods are fenced.

Inside the large, heavy crates are hundreds of completed electric motors. The retail value of the motors is between 40k and 75k nuyen.

Scene 6: A “free” man once again. Lion-O is released from the Knight Errant station. Lion-O contacts Zer0 to let him know that’s he’s okay. Lion-O carefully crafts his words to give Zer0 the strong impression that the call is being monitored.

Lion-O feels it’s best not to make contact with the rest of the team and sets off on a plan to frame Stooby and the Dogs of War for the kidnapping and murder of Catherine Westmore.

Lion-O arranges a meeting with the Dogs of War at Marcel’s at 7:30pm. During the dinner, he finds it hard to manipulate Stooby because his brother Joeby is also there watching out for his brother.

Under a Mr. Johnson pseudonym, Lion-O asks if the Dogs of War are able to do wetwork missions in a “delicate” fashion. Stooby responds that car bombs are delicate enough. Lion-O does mention that there is a price on JJohnny Ono‘s head which has peaked Stooby’s interest.

Scene 7: Outside the RMD Plant. Trying to infiltrate the plant, the team acts as a surprise inspection crew. The gate guard reports their arrival into the plant and tries to stall the team of Olo, Mellora, and Zer0. The team misinterprets the stalling tactics and aborts the plan.

Shortly after, they return and Olo mind controls the gate guard to come meet them beyond the range of the camera overwatching the gate. Olo has the guard hand his commlink to Zer0. Zer0 hacks into the commlink but finds that it’s not part of the RMD security host. All he can get is a list of employees and a daily delivery schedule for when trucks arrive and depart.

They use the schedule to try to hijack an incoming delivery truck from WTF Extruding. Mellora and Olo get the incoming truck to stop by crashing her bike in front of it. Mellora does a good job of faking a serious injury.

The irate driver confronts the two of them. While, Olo distracts the driver while Mellora pretends to be seriously injured. Felix sneaks into the truck and drives off after Zer0 hacks it.

Zer0 then “steals” Mellora’s bike and rides off. Lion-O drives up in the van to pick up Mellora and Olo to take them to the hospital. They drop off the angry driver at the nearby RMD plant.

Olo casts heal spells on himself and Mellora.

Felix notices that the truck is being followed by a pick up truck registered to Bruno Santino, a member of The Chavez Family. With Zer0’s help, they lose the tail.

The team meets up with Tabitha Morgan again to fence the goods. Inside the truck are coils of copper and berrylium wiring worth 45k nuyen.

Scene 8: RMD Plant. The next day, the team returns to RMD Plant before the first shift starts. Olo casts disguise spells on Zer0 and Felix.

Zer0 infiltrates the plant as a maintenance worker and Felix infiltrates the plant as a security guard. Both are able to easily get past the gate guard.

Zer0 goes to the rigger control room and talks another maintenance worker into leaving him alone inside the room. He then hacks into the system, getting access to the main node.

Felix goes and talks to the receptionist. He seduces her and takes her to the bosses private room.

Zer0 gets Lion-O access to the forklifts in the assembly area and Lion-O causes a lot of physical damage to the machinery in the area. Zer0’s unauthorized presence on the node is detected and alarms are set off. Lion-O jacks out of the matrix. Zer0 also jacks out of the matrix before they can locate him.

Zer0 and Felix try to make their way out of the plant, but are stopped by security. Zer0 gets held up at the last door. Felix is able to get past the guard, but is unable to help Zer0 out. Felix does gain control of the gate to allow the rest of the team in the van to drive in. Olo uses a spell to distract the guards while Zer0 makes and run for it and jumps into the van. The team gets away safely.

Scene 8: Payment. Mr. Johnson contacts the team and informs them testily to cease all operation and to pick up their payment at 8pm at Jay’s Boathouse North. At 8:20pm, a bodyguard knocks and enters the private dining room, tossing the team the final payment and prompty leaves saying only that the team performed as required, though the desired result failed to materialize.

A tragedy of errors

“Welcome home, Mistress. How may I assist you? Perhaps a nice cup of coffee?”

“Assist me by shutting up,” I shot back at the droid.

“Yes, Mistress.” Cavendish lumbered to a corner and its eyes dimmed.

“Sonofabitch,” I said as I threw myself onto the couch. I willed my sore muscles to pull off my suit, and rubbed the bruises on my chest. It had been a while since I took a few rounds square in the body. If I’m going to be making a habit of this, then it’s time to invest in bulkier armor.

Except now I don’t have the money for it.

Then Brunhilde walked over and put her head in my lap. My mood softened immediately, and I stroked her thick fur. She looked up at me with soulful eyes as I scratched her neck.

“My boobs hurt,” I said to the dog. She looked back with what I imagined to be compassionate understanding.

+

I lounged around the house for a couple of days. But my blood ran to ice it my veins when I read the article in the Denver Daily.

The girl was dead.

Actions had consequences. And this was one thing I could only blame myself for. It went against the grain, against everything that I am, to have been responsible for this thing.

Sure, you could parse this out, say that the responsible party was the one who pulled the trigger. And that if not us, then someone would have delivered the girl. In the back of my mind, the part where tactics and logic lived, I wondered that the entire kidnapping team had been killed, too.

We should have let the Godz take care of business in the end. I went into my garage and just started kicking the tires of my van.

My foot throbbed, but the girl was still dead.

I became a cop because I wanted to help people. It was interesting to find out, after everything that I’ve been through, that instinct still lived inside me.

After an hour to two of pacing and kicking, I went back into the house and re-read the article.

Oh.

A sniper. Unidentified sniper. Knight Errant was investigating.

This was worse.

I called up Olo. “Did you see the headlines? Look, I want to find that sniper. I want to find out who did this. For many, many reasons.”

My Weekly Dosage of Venting

I don’t want to start this with another complaint. I’m trying to looking on the bright side here. I’ve got a job. I get paid. I’m on good terms with my boss and coworkers to an extent. It’s just that my salary can’t make ends meet. It rarely has. Another sign of how unstable things could get. So, here I am, about to vent out my frustrations on another audio log. I can only hope that the majority of these recordings are about happier times when I stop making them.

Today and yesterday were not the best that they could have been. I undertook another run with the three people I had met at the Stuffer Shack and some new guy named Vlad Tire. Hmph. Come to think of it, Vlad did sort of give off that same presence that Luke did but I’ll save speculation for later. Anyway, we were hired by a Mr. Jaron Falcone of The Horse Trot Ranch resort. A big shot from Knights Errant’s developmental department, Jonathan Belinkiy, was picked as someone else’s bargaining chip. Our job was to get him back before daybreak when the ransom would be sent back to headquarters.

We did a little detective work and tried looking around for anything that could clue us in as to who would want to strike against KES and Ares as a whole. It could have been Azetecnology. The company did seem to have a sore spot for anyone who was doing business in Denver after they’d been kicked out, which included nearly every organization worth mentioning. There was also an Aztec knife worth about 600 Nuyen stabbed into the front of the bed our missing person had slept in. We also found a decorative feather underneath a pillow. It belonged to a member from a Shadowrunning group called the Black Cats, Kira Blackfoot. The feather turned out to be pretty important seeing as if her fellow members realized she lost it, she would be killed.

So, we had two leads: the Azzies and Kira. Kira seemed like the better option but the problem was getting in contact with her. The possibility of her death was increasing by the minute. We managed to get the message out at the cost of pissing off a lot of bar patrons in the Sioux sector and having to swap outfits with Felix for a time. Our first conversation with her wasn’t friendly. She hung up. I find it understandable, given her situation. Having nowhere else to turn, we asked Stalker to take us where underground Azzie activities occur. After a few hours of searching the place, we decided to break into some kind of Aztlan stronghold. No Belinkiy. All we managed to do was scare and wound a few guys from a smuggling ring. Perhaps the most notable example of this was Vlad who used magic to force a beast to attack its master. He’ll be okay…….. physically speaking. Vlad decided to take the beast and try to train it to be his. There were a lot of things we could have stolen. For the first time in a while, I cannot say that I was not tempted. There was a collection of Blu-rays in this joint! Hundreds of discs that housed films, tv shows, and anime from long ago! Most of these were a half-century old! There was even a BLU-RAYPLAYER!!!

Sorry. I had to uh……. “bash my head against a table” for a bit. Where was I? Oh yeah, I didn’t steal them. While these blu-rays didn’t really possess an overall theme, it was still a collection in my eyes’ as someone had clearly put in a lot of effort to obtain all of this. The black market has little use for media distribution so archaic, let alone the general public. This screamed as something personal. It didn’t feel right to take even a single disc. I wonder if the others saw me stressing over this. Meh. I don’t care. When we got out of the sewers, Kira Blackfoot contacted us again. There were trades on top of trades but nothing would satisfy either party. Eehhh, it’s getting late. To shorten things up a bit, Zer0 figured out how to trace Belinky through a chip that his boss had installed in him. The signal led us to a DIY Storage and Lodging. While the whole place was pretty run down, there were both physical and astral barricades blocking off one room from view. It turned out to be where the Blackcats were hiding him. We thought up of a plan to flush them out. It went south fast. Mellora had to shoot some people. I’m not sure if they made it. There were also some spirits that were guarding Belinkiy’s body. While I’m not well versed in spirits, I know enough to be thankful for how swiftly Vlad’s new pet took care of them.

We grabbed Belinkiy and took him back to the ranch where a doctor could take a look at him. With the rest of our payment in our pockets, we parted ways. We didn’t stop at McHugh’s this time. We had been working through the night and sleep appeared to be everyone’s priority. This wasn’t a clean run by far. The Azzies, Blackcats and a couple of people from the Sioux sector are probably out for vengeance. As for my fellow Shadowrunners, the five of us seem to get along well and are willing to rely on each other if need be. I just wish they would chip in some Nuyen to fix the back of my van. Vlad’s pet did scruff things up a bit.

The team balks at the idea of working with Stooby in what figures to be a kidnapping mission. The team walks out on the deal.

Outside, the team runs into a Godz ambush squad. They reposition themselves and wait to see what happens. When Ms. Johnson and Stooby exit the restaurant, they are assaulted with a hail of gunfire. The team opens up fire on the hit squad, forcing them to retreat.

After the dust settles, four Godz members are down as well as Ms. Johnson. Olo casts Knockout on Stooby and the team leaves him.

Before passing out, Ms. Johnson asks to be taken to Zhang Wong.. The team loads Ms. Johnson, the unconscious Godz leader, and his motorcycle into their van and drives off before Puebsec arrives.

Scene 2: Border Crossing. Mellora, Jake and the two “sleepers” cross the checkpoint without issue. Felix fails to convince the border guard to let him through. After an hour of questioning and electronic scanning, Lion-O and Felix are allowed to pass.

Scene 3: Mystic Curiosities. Zhang Wong tends to Lady Jade while the team waits for her to wake up. In the meantime, they interrogate Billy Kidd. He tells him the Godz are upset over business dealings with Lady Jade and want to make an example out of her. The team sets Billy free.

After Lady Jade wakes up and is calmed down a bit, she offers the team the extraction mission again, this time without Stooby. The team reluctantly agrees after fishing out more details on the run. The target is 11-year-old Catherine Westmore

Scene 4: Holm Elementary. After some legwork, the team learns of the location of Catherine Westmore’s school. After some fine scouting and sneaking around, Zer0 hacks into the school computers to find Catherine’s home address.

Scene 5: The Westmore Condo. In the middle of the night, the team tracks down Catherine’s location. They find her guarded by only one man, Jack McPherson.

Zer0 sets off the silent alarm while trying to hack and the team rushes into grab Catherine. They find her and Jack holed up in the reinforced safe room of Donna’s bedroom. Zer0 hacks the lock and Mellora takes lead. Mellora tosses a flash-bang grenade into the tiny closet, but Frost’s flare compensation protects him. Frost then blasts Mellora with a burst from his SMG.

Olo overpowers Frost with a magic spell and Lion-O grabs Catherine. The team makes it for their vehicles while Lion-O’s Doberman drone draws the attention of the authorities that have arrived on scene. Felix takes a swipe at Catherine but misses.

Scene 6: The getaway. Jack Frost McPherson and his team, The Trinity track down Catherine in their Ares helicopter. Their rescue attempt fails when Zer0 successfully hacks into their helicopter, forcing them to crash.

Scene 7: Delivery. The team delivers a frightened Catherine Westmore to a second runner team at an abandoned safehouse somewhere in the Aurora Warrens. They are paid and asked to leave.

In the Kill Zone

Crouching low, I moved quickly and silently across the field. The darkness hid me, but the chameleon suit certainly helped. Halfway between the old motel and the oak tree, I stopped and knelt on the soft, cold ground. I pulled out my anenometer and measured the wind speed and direction. Satisfied with the reading, I resumed my run, my compensation plan running through my mind.

The tree was perfect. I shouldered my rifle and took a leap to the lowest branch, and easily pulled myself up. I kept climbing, glancing back often to the third-story windows. How far up to go? Too far, and the branch would sway and compromise my accuracy. Too low and my line of sight would not be ideal. I chose a compromise: just tall enough to secure the high ground, but still decently sturdy. I’d have to compensate for the tree, too, I told myself. I was accustomed to perching on buildings, so a tree is something of a challenge.

I set up. The bipod fit well on the branch, and I took a minute to get comfortable. Relaxation and control were everything. Satisfied with my position, I set up the scope and zoomed in. From here I could see the boarded up windows, and as a bonus I had a clear view of the rickety fire escape. Two of three possible escape routes covered.

“In position,” I radioed the others. “Eyes in the sky.”

There was peace in this, the relaxed tension of waiting. My world narrowed to the scene in my scope; even the dim chatter on the comm only barely penetrated my consciousness. The night air was crisp, and the breeze ruffled the leaves around me.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Mind like water.

Yes, this was peace. Living in the moment, mind blank but receptive; the absolute focus drowning out the jumble of thoughts, the nightmares, the confusion. Just breathe. Breathe and watch.

Movement. The boards over the windows are pushed out.

Muscle memory: the crosshairs of the rifle followed the best target.

“Subjects visible. I see two… three. Belinkiy — target confirmed.”

One woman rappelled to the ground. My crosshairs followed her. Not yet…

“I’ll take my shot when I can separate the target from the hostiles.”

I wait, and honestly? I was shocked that their escape plan took them directly into my kill zone. Exposed for hundreds of meters in three directions? What were they thinking?

What were they going to make me do?

But that was only part of my brain, a tiny voice in the back of my mind. The rest of me fell so easily into my training. My experience. My specialty.

I’ve become a mess in so many other ways, but this… THIS I can do.

I was trained to wait for vulnerability. Trained to take advantage of every opportunity. Snipers are not trained for mercy.

The only conscious thought I indulged myself in was a quick decision: kill shot or wound? They were wearing decent armor, so I decided to not pull the punch. Body shot. Expediency.

The target was now slowly floating. I’d been expecting some ropes, but where there was a supernatural event, there was probably a magic user. I guessed it must be the subject in the window, gazing down, watching the target float.

She moved into my crosshairs (in reailty my crosshairs moved to her, but the motion was subconscious, programmed, and without conscious effort.) And when she was still concentrating on the target, but the target was close enough to the ground to survive a fall, I fired.

The rifle is part of me, the sight an extension of my eyes. Inhale. Squeeze the trigger gently. Exhale. Assess.

She dropped, Belinkiy fell, and my crosshairs found the other woman.

The scent of gunpowder wafted on the winter breeze. The rifle was warm in my hands.

I winced. She didn’t run. Crouching, but still ridiculously exposed, she stayed with her captive.

Inhale. Squeeze. Shoot. Exhale.

She went down.

Now I pulled back focus, went from zoom to wide angle, looking for additional targets. Covering my friends as they moved in. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end when I saw the spirits, but I knew that I wouldn’t be much help against them. I just kept looking for more corporeal subjects.

I found one — moving around the window, a third woman. She dragged her companion out of range. Good on her, I thought. But then the fool stuck her head out the window.

Inhale. Squeeze. Shot. Exhale.

I didn’t see her again.

I remained in position, ready to fire at whomever might rear their stupid head. No one else tried it. When the van swept up our target and the rest of the gang, I swiftly packed up and climbed down the tree.

When it was over, and we were driving back to the ranch, I couldn’t help but stare out the window and think of the two women I’d dropped. I was fairly sure the third one had only taken a glancing blow, but the other two…

I had intended to at least check up on the one on the ground, but with the spirit nearby, no one wanted to hang around.

I didn’t want to kill them. I didn’t like to think that I had. It wasn’t that I couldn’t come up with a lot of excuses to appease my conscience. Yeah, they had probably done a lot of bad things in their careers. Yeah, they may well have killed for money. A few years ago, I would have been smug about it, and so very sure of myself. They were doing bad things, and when you do bad things, getting killed was a possible side effect.

The world made a lot less sense now, so it was hard to get them out of my thoughts, even after we got paid.

I scoured the news, but couldn’t find anything. I’ll have to check with some contacts, just to be sure. If nothing else, I’d like to know if the Black Cats could be expected to extract some pretty serious revenge.

Such messy work

What has this world come to when you can’t negotiate a simple trade. Every man has their price and I refuse to believe that price must sometimes be death.

To much deception, infiltration, and shameful elinination can make a man sick. Very sick.

People were hurt but no one was killed. I think. I will not rest easy tonight.

The mission: not very important. You just need to know it was dangerous. And a lot of people COULD have been killed. What will this do to my already unstable mental health. What do you care? Shut up! You’re not my dad!

Four days after the new year I get a call for some work. Not that I’ve been sitting around for the past 3 days, but it’s nice to get a pay check. I’d better dress proper for the occasion. By his vage description I was given, my outfit will either confuse him or amuse him.

I arrived extra early. We must be punctual for these things. I chatted up the charming locals for about an hour. I knew they weren’t who I was after, but it never hurts to be on the good side of people.

When some familiar faces began to go into what I assume to be the interview room, I hesitated. I’m very shy. In the end the work was all that mattered and if I wanted my outfit to work, I needed to be fashionably late anyway.

I walked in, chatted up the boss, and even got paid in advance… mostly, oh alright half, but still, I knew this rediculous get up would work. Just got to deliver a gift to his businedd partner accross a few counties.

While we, that is to say me and the others (which is the definition of ‘we’), made it accross the first county without a hitch. Even met a strapping fellow along the way. I’m sure he’ll keep the existence of our package to himself no doubt. Yes the more people we include the better. What a GOOD idea.

Oh no… we were stopped. Who could have seen this coming? Some more fellows count them, one, two, thre— eight. There are now eight people in the way of my final paycheck.
And we cannot have that, can we?

Another battle of wits. It worked SO well the last time. But it’s sort of my talent, you see. I see… this is a personal log, I’m talking to myself. But I already knew that So this part of the log should be erased.

Where was I? Oh yes. I’m sure what happened next is very exciting to the average reader. A bunch of shouting, a carchase, some smuggling, and a run in with the mafia, but who cares about that. This is my log. All that matters: Did I get my tea?

Well I survived, didn’t I? As long as I live, I will always have my tea.

…Oh yea and I may see the ones I worked with again, then again, I may not.